


Blossom

by Nununununu



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: (the second time), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attraction, Flowers, M/M, Meet-Cute, Post-Canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:29:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29415657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nununununu/pseuds/Nununununu
Summary: Din runs into Cobb again when he least expects to. Literally.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth
Comments: 5
Kudos: 93
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	Blossom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Another Wayward Cowgirl (viajeramyra)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/viajeramyra/gifts).



> An interpretation of an in-universe not quite flower shop AU :)
> 
> (Originally posted 14/02; redated for author reveals)

“Ah,” Biting the corner of his lower lip, Din examined the pitiful state of the little potted flower Grogu had spotted at a market several planets back and had been so excited about Din had ended up bartering for it, lifting Grogu up to help him put it in pride of place on top of the small shelving unit where the kid kept his favourite toys near his sleeping area on their new ship. As little as Din knew about plants, this one was visibly limp, appeared yellow and bloated, and looked very much like it was beyond saving, “I’m sorry, kid.”

Mournful dark eyes glancing between Din and the sorry remains of his plant, Grogu whined again, this time almost a whimper, and brought his hands up and out towards it in a gesture Din recognised.

_I don’t think you can heal the flower,_ He held back from saying, because who was he to presume. If anyone could, it was probably Grogu.

“Mmmm,” The kid buried his face in Din’s shoulder with a sigh when it had become apparent that, no, Jedi healing powers did not appear to extend to plants.

“We can look for another at the next market we go to, if you want,” Curling his fingers gently around the back of the child’s head, Din vowed.

Perhaps he ought to read up about them a bit first.

*

They’d spent rather longer researching plants than Din had necessarily intended or expected by the time they touched down on the next planet, pulling up whatever kid-friendly information the holonet had available on the topic, although it became clear very quickly that Grogu held no favourable opinion on dry but potentially informative text, but infinitely preferred any form of picture, reaching out his little fingers to stroke at the holograms. ‘Research’, as such, had mostly consisted of Din learning that the kid seemed to particularly appreciate large, colourful blooms, and he had this in mind as they descended through the atmosphere onto a promisingly verdant moon.

“All right, let’s do this,” Din eyed the market they located after the trek into the nearest settlement with faint trepidation, mostly due to the lack of his helmet meaning he was going to be _looked_ at. Reminding himself that Grogu was infinitely cuter and therefore far more likely to gain attention helped, as did the way the kid stretched up in his arms to pat his cheek.

_There there,_ the gesture said. That Din thereafter had to dissuade the kid from investigating his ear also provided a timely distraction. By the time he’d convinced Grogu that he did in fact need to hear with it rather than walk to the beat of a tiny hand using his ear as a drum, Din had reached the first few of the stalls and the motley crowd of locals and visitors alike swallowed the both of them up without much fuss.

It really was different no longer wearing the armour. He often felt shatteringly vulnerable, yes, but Grogu was shaping up to be even more of a force of nature now he was undergoing his training, and Din had a new collection of weapons that weren’t as good as his old ones but also weren’t unbearably bad. They’d be okay, probably. He hoped. At least he had a full two standard weeks with the kid while Grogu was on his school break.

The very thought had Din smiling despite himself. This didn’t change when there was a demanding tug on his hair, Grogu near bouncing up and down on Din’s shoulder in the attempt to steer him over to the sought for stall, a nearby table crammed with potted flowers.

His smile did falter a little however when, as a result of this, he walked straight into another marketgoer’s back.

_Kriff_.

“Hey now,” The person Din had nearly bowled over righted themselves, swivelled at the hips in a way that was unreasonably distracting, and then turned one hundred and eighty degrees and resolved into the entirely unexpected figure of one Cobb Vanth, marshal of a small town not on any maps on a planet comprised of a whole lot of sand and a full _eight hours_ of lightspeed away from this moon.

Stars, the man was wearing a trim vest on top of a blue shirt instead of the red one Din remembered, left open at the collar, his shirtsleeves rolled up to reveal –

Were those _tattoos_? Kriff, yes, yes they were.

“Oh – hey,” Cobb’s tone radically changed between one ‘hey’ and another, evidently recognising Grogu at least, eyes widening as he took in the kid, darted up to Din’s face and then back down and then back up again, as if suspicious but not quite certain, and then back down once more to take in the lack of armour, “Hey.”

This third ‘hey’ was the most puzzled of all. Din, for his part, was still staring at those tattoos.

“Hey,” He got out in return, aware he should say something, a reply that just about sealed it really.

“It’s you, isn’t it,” A tiny curl of amusement was birthing in one corner of Cobb’s lips, threatening to get bigger, aided by the fact that Grogu immediately started wriggling in the way that implied he might well seek to fling himself off Din’s shoulder if he wasn’t given attention. “And you,” Cobb gave it easily, a gentle poke to the kid’s belly making him giggle, tiny hands clamping around the other man’s finger, “I sure remember you.” He aimed a look back at Din that seemed caught between quizzical and – and something much like _impressed_ , giving him a not exactly subtle once over that had Din’s mouth drying out quicker than if he’d taken his helmet off back under those twin suns.

He’d been nurturing the hope of seeing Cobb again in honesty, if he could only come up with a reasonable excuse to not only go back to Tatooine, but specifically to Mos Pelgo, other than simply announcing the fact that he’d hoped they were friends and that Cobb had truly meant it about wanting to see Din again and, oh by the way, did he know that he was really attractive.

“Bahh,” A small hand patting at Din’s temple, Grogu sought to return Din’s attention to the flowers.

“Mm,” Din glanced at them and then back at Cobb, who was both still looking at Din and still looking a little poleaxed, if also really rather close to appearing almost dangerously sentimental, which made Din narrow his eyes given he hadn’t yet confirmed his identity.

Although, hell, who else would he be? And the thought that Cobb might have come to the conclusion that Grogu wouldn’t be nearly as content with a stranger who just so happened to have a similar build to Din was appealing.

Scratch that, the thought that Cobb maybe recognised him without the helmet or armour – aided to a large extent the presence of a certain someone on his shoulder, but still – It had Din helplessly smiling.

“O-oh,” Cobb’s voice actually caught, enough for Din to blink at him in enquiry even as he felt a faint heat trickle into his face as the other man shifted closer. Cobb shook himself a little, “What are you –”

“Flowers,” Din gestured to the stall, the proximity having a direct effect on his ability to produce sentences,” Looking. For a new one. For Grogu.”

He still couldn’t stop taking in the other man, the tall slim shape of him, so close now to Din’s own.

“Last one died,” Kriff, he hadn’t intended to say that. Din winced internally in anticipation of upset from Grogu that thankfully didn’t happen, even as his mouth tried entirely uncharacteristically to just _carry on talking_.

“Hm?” Apparently Cobb too had noticed Din was close to babbling. He just replied with a smile though, hand going up to rub at his beard as he kindly directed his attention onto the blooms, “Well, that doesn’t sound good, does it?” He shot a conspiring look over his shoulder at Grogu, “It was your daddy’s fault, wasn’t it.”

Grogu’s babble implied agreement with this.

“ _Hey_ ,” Din was seemingly back to this again, even as he wanted to ask the other man how he was, why he was here when he’d said he’d lived on Tatooine his whole life, where he was going next and, just maybe, could they tag along with him, or Cobb come with them, either or.

“I didn’t say anything,” Cobb’s voice was airy with teasing even as he held up a potted flower in anticipation of Grogu’s verdict, as oblivious as Din to the owner of the stall giving the three of them the stink eye given their failure to as yet buy anything, “This one?”

“Mm,” Grogu gestured to a cactus instead.

“Not sure that’s a good idea,” Face creasing almost comically at the size of the spikes, Cobb nudged the pot under discussion out of reach, “You got any ideas?”

Kriff, he was speaking to Din.

“Do you want to join us for lunch?” Din asked as such, which wasn’t what Cobb had been asking, but was indeed an idea. A very good one in Din’s opinion, at least, and the way Grogu cooed implied he certainly wasn’t adverse.

“I, uh,” Cobb fumbled for just a moment, a rare moment of fluster, “Lunch. Lunch would be great.” He grinned suddenly, wide enough both Din and the stall owner both seemed a little swept away by it. “Lunch would be _amazing_.”

“Y-yeah,” It was Din’s turn to be tripping over his words, even as he gave said stall owner a look, to which they just rolled their eyes and spread their hands, “Lunch it is then.”

Grogu chose this moment to pop up amongst the flowerpots, having taken advantage of Din’s distraction to climb down off his shoulder, swarm along his arm and onto the edge of the stall, to the owner’s clear displeasure. Din scooped him up quickly, intently conscious of Cobb making a half-apologetic, half-pacifying gesture to the owner as he did, a hands-raised sort of ‘it’s okay, calm down’.

From most people it could well provoke quite the opposite reaction, but from Cobb it possessed a sort of wrinkled-brow charm that was surprisingly effective.

“Can we – get this one,” Din didn’t bother to bargain for the flower Grogu had made a clear beeline for, paying overly much if anything, not quite able to look directly at the stall owner given they had witnessed the entirety of this reunion from a distance that was just made for effective eye-rolling.

They also, when he did sneak a glimpse at them after as Cobb plucked a delighted Grogu out of Din’s arms and started wandering off in the confidence he’d be followed, stuck a thumbs-up at him

“Go get him,” Finishing up wrapping the purchase in loose protective sheeting, they jerked their head unambiguously in Cobb’s direction.

“Thanks,” Face flushing hotly, Din carefully accepted the plant, and set off to do exactly that.


End file.
